Orphan
by Emma.S18
Summary: At three years old, Emma Swan had been through more drama than most people go through in a lifetime. Regina Mills, her new foster mother, will do anything to make the child's life easier. - Warning: mention of child abuse/rape - I don't own OUAT
1. A New Foster Home

At three years old, Emma Swan had been through more drama than most people go through in a lifetime. A few days after being born, Emma was found on the side of the road and was put into foster care. She got adopted pretty quickly, but as soon as her adoptive mother got pregnant, Emma was send back.

Today she had just been send back from her seventh foster home and was completely heartbroken. Her social worker picked her up. "I know it's hard, sweetie, but I'm sure this time will be better." Emma just shook her head sadly. "You always say that." A tear rolled down the little girls cheek.

"I don't want to go." The blonde child cried as her social worker tried to get her to sit in the car. "Sweetie, you have to. If this one doesn't work out, I promise you can stay at my house for a while, okay?" Finally, reluctantly the little girl sat in the car and buckled up.

Driving all the way from Boston to Maine took some time, during which Emma had fallen asleep. The social worker smiled sadly at the child; she knew what the kid had already endured and had tried adopting her herself, but it had failed. She really didn't want to put her through this, but unfortunately she didn't really have a choice. At least, she picked someone who seemed a good fit for Emma, although from letters you could never be entirely sure.

They finally arrived at the address she had written down. Looking out the window, she saw a huge, white mansion. Surprised, she double checked the address and smiled inwardly. This was definitely going to be a better home for Emma than the last one.

"Sweetie? Wake up. We're here." She woke the blonde little girl. "Can't I stay with you?" She looked at her with her adorable eyes filled with hope. "I'm sorry, Sweetie, but we have to go." Both of them got out of the car and the social worker grabbed Emma's bag out of the back.

They walked up to the door and knocked. A few seconds later, a brunette woman, dressed formally, answered the door. "Hi," the social worker said, "you must be Regina Mills?" The brunette nodded. "I'm Karen, Emma's social worker, and this here is Emma Swan." The blonde little girl was practically hiding behind the social worker.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you. Would you like to come inside?" Karen nodded and followed Regina inside the house, Emma clinging to her as if her life depended on it. "Emma, aren't you going to say 'hi'?" She asked her and the child shyly stuck out her hand to Regina, but staying hidden. "Hi" she said quietly. Regina smiled and took Emma's hand shaking it. She then kneeled down to the child's height. "Hi, Emma. I'm Regina. Do you want some cookies and juice?" Emma nodded shyly. Regina stuck out her hand to Emma, who hesitated a moment before taking it.

Once Emma was sitting at the kitchen table, eating her cookies and drinking her juice, the women started filling out the paperwork. "Ms. Mills, I want to inform you that Emma has had a few bad homes and that she's been send back a lot. That is the reason why she's so shy and scared. I hope that you'll treat her right, because she's truly an amazing child." Regina nodded understandingly.

"What do you mean by 'bad homes'?" She asked, already fearing the answer. "The last homes she's been in, she was abused, raped, ignored. Emma told me that one family even starved her for days at a time." Regina's heart broke. How could people do that to such a small, innocent child? "Well, I can assure you that she's safe here." Karen nodded gratefully.

"My work here is done. I'll be on my way then." At that Emma jumped up and ran towards her. "Please, don't leave me." She begged. Tears rushed down her little face. "Emma, you know I have to. I'm sorry, Sweetie." She picked up the child and held her in her arms. "But Regina seems nice, doesn't she?" Emma looked up at the brunette and shrugged. "Yes." Regina smiled gently. "See, and you have my number if you need it, okay?" Emma nodded and hugged Karen tightly.

The social worker put the child on the ground and stepped outside. Emma rushed to the window and looked on as Karen got in her car. They waved one last time at each other and then she was gone.


	2. Alone with the new foster mother

"So Emma," Regina said, once they were finally alone, "do you want to see your new room?" Emma nodded and Regina held out her hand, which Emma quickly took. The brunette led the kid upstairs to the room closest to her own. As they entered, Emma gasped. Her mouth was hanging wide open. "This is my room?" She asked Regina surprised. When Regina nodded, she asked "only for me?" Again the brunette nodded. "Do you like it?" Emma nodded. "Thank you, Ms. Mills" She said politely. "Call me Regina, darling."

After helping Emma put away the little stuff she had, Regina asked her what she wanted to do. "I'll just play in here, quietly." Emma said, as she took a half broken Barbie out of her backpack. Regina looked at her sadly. "Emma, your doll is broken." The little girl looked at the doll and then at Regina. "I got it this way from my last foster home after their real kids took al my other toys." That broke Regina's heart. She promised herself that she would give this little girl a better life. She'd give her anything she wants.

"You know what? Tomorrow, we'll go shopping together, okay? I'm going to buy you lots of great toys and new cloths and then we'll go and eat pancakes at the diner. What do you think?" Emma smiled widely. "You really want to do all that with me?" Regina sat down next to the little girl with her broken doll. "Of course I want to, darling." Suddenly Emma hugged Regina tightly.

After a few seconds, Emma shyly pulled away. "I'm sorry." She said quickly. "You're just really nice." Regina pulled Emma in for another hug. "Do you want to watch a movie with me?" Regina asked. Emma's eyes widened and she nodded excitedly. "What do you want to watch?" Emma frowned. "I get to pick?" The brunette nodded. "The Little Mermaid, please?" Regina smiled. "Great choice."

The little girl held out her arms, a clear sign she wanted to be carried, to which Regina happily complied. Sitting her down on the couch, Regina prepared the movie and grabbed a blanket. When she sat down, the little girl didn't waste a second cuddling into her. Halfway through the movie, Emma was out like a light. Regina decided that it was late anyway and carried her to her room. She tucked her in, kissed her forehead, turned of the light and left the door half open, before going to bed herself.


	3. Nightmare

That night Regina woke up from a loud scream coming from the child's bedroom. She hastily got up, grabbed her robe and ran to the little girl's room. "Emma?" She tried to gently wake up the young kid. When she finally awoke, she started sobbing. Regina held her as she tried to calm her down. After several minutes, the crying finally stopped. "Did you have a nightmare, darling?" Emma nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"He found me." She said, new tears were running down her face. "He wanted to take me away from you. I called Karen, but she didn't want to come. He was going to hit me again." Emma said scared. "Who did this to you, Emma?" Regina asked, never letting go of the child in her arms. "My last foster father… He told me he'd find me. Regina, I'm scared."

Regina sat Emma on her lap. "You don't have to be scared anymore, Emma. You're safe here. I'll protect you, I promise. He's not going to hurt you anymore. And you know both Karen and I would come protect you if you called. She would never leave you somewhere if it wasn't safe." She kissed the little girl's forehead. "Would you feel safer sleeping with me tonight?" She asked the three-year-old. "If that's okay with you." She answered shyly.

Like she did before, Regina picked up Emma in her arms, but took her to her room. She put her down on the bed and got in herself. Just like she did when they were watching TV, Emma snuggled close to Regina. She put her head on the older woman's chest. Regina wrapped her arms around the small girl. And just like that both fell asleep with a smile on their face.


	4. The shopping trip

**A/N: Sorry, I forgot to mention it… There is no curse in this story**

Regina had taken the whole week of to spend with Emma, so when she woke up with the child still sleeping half on top of her, she decided to just enjoy the moment and let the little girl sleep in. She ended up falling back asleep herself.

A few hours later, she woke up once more and enjoyed watching the blonde sleep. Even though they had just barely met, Regina already loved the child as her own daughter. Her thoughts were quickly shoved away as the small child started to wake up herself.

"Good morning, darling." Regina said quietly. "Good morning." A sleepy, childish voice responded. "Did you sleep better after you came in here?" The brunette asked. "I slept great. Did you sleep well too?" Regina smiled at the question. "I slept great too. I love having you here." Emma smiled and looked up at her. "Really?" Regina nodded.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Emma looked at her confused. "I don't eat breakfast yet. Breakfast is for the older kids." Regina shook her head. "Who told you that? Everybody has to eat breakfast; it's the most important meal of the day." The brunette remembered the social worker saying that some families used to not give Emma any food. "When else do only older kids get to eat?" She asked her, wanting to know how serious the problem was. "When I cry, when I break something or when I do something bad." Regina hugged Emma. "That is not okay, Emma. You need to eat three meals a day. Do you want to go eat pancakes at the diner?" Emma's eyes lit up at the words 'pancakes'. Regina chuckled.

Regina went through Emma's stuff to look for a clean outfit. "Emma, where are your cloths?" Emma looked around and grabbed the little red dress and the leggings she had on yesterday. "Right here." She smiled proudly at Regina. "Darling, where are your other clothes? Those are the clothes you wore yesterday." Emma shrugged. "I don't have any. Just before sending me back, my last foster mom took my two other dresses and gave them to her real daughter." Regina sighed and helped her put her dress back on. "We have a lot to buy, I see. Better get going then."

Emma giggled and Regina looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Emma shrugged innocently, before giggling some more. Regina put on her coat and then helped Emma into hers. More giggles left the child's mouth. "What's so funny?" Regina asked smiling. "You are still in your pajama." Regina looked down and laughed. She was happy to see the little girl so cheerful and loving, especially after how shy and scared she was when they first met. They had only met yesterday, but the little girl had already stolen her heart.

After getting dressed herself, Regina took them to the diner. As they entered, the little bell above the door and every face turned to them, making Emma uncomfortable. She quickly hid behind Regina, clinging to her leg with shaky little arms. The frightened look on Emma's face broke Regina's heart. How could such a young child have lost the ability to trust so early on? It terrified Regina to think about how bad Emma's life should have been for her to react as extremely as she was now.

Before Regina could even react, Ruby was kneeling before Emma. "Hey, little one, don't be scared. I'm Ruby, who are you?" Emma grasped Regina's hand and tucked at it to get her attention. Once she had it, she signaled her to pick her up, which the brunette didn't hesitate to do. Emma hid her face in Regina's neck.

"I'm sorry, Ruby. Emma's rather shy. She is my foster child." She informed the waitress. Then she addressed the rest of the diner. "Now that you have seen her, you can stop staring at her." Regina sat down in a booth in the back of the diner to ensure their privacy, but only a few seconds later, none other than Mary Margaret already invaded that privacy. Regina rolled her eyes at the exasperating woman. "She's so adorable, Regina." Regina rolled her eyes annoyed. "I am very aware of this, dear. Now, if you will excuse us, Emma and I would like to enjoy our breakfast without the interruptions." Mary Margaret sighed and left.

A little while later Ruby came to take their order. Regina grinned at the child still clutching her. "I think Emma would like a plate full of broccoli." At this the blonde looked up with wide, panicked eyes. "I thought we were going to have pancakes?" She asks. Regina chuckled. "You heard the little lady, Ruby; we're having pancakes."

Regina was smiling while Emma happily ate the last pancake. It was obvious that the girl loved pancakes. She had syrup almost everywhere on her face, but had luckily managed to keep her dress clean. Emma seemed to warm up to Ruby rather quickly, but for now that was the only person she talked to besides Regina. "Come on, Emma, let's go get your face clean and then you can go shopping with Regina." Emma nodded and grabbed Ruby's hand and followed her to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, Emma ran to Regina. "Look, look. Ruby gave me a peace of chocolate." She said excitedly. "That is so nice of her. Did you say thank you?" Emma nodded. Regina looked up at Ruby, who confirmed it. "Very good. Are you ready to go then?" Emma quickly turned around and hugged Ruby shortly. "Bye Ruby." The waitress smiled. "Bye, sweetie. Have a good day."

They first went into the clothing store. "So, what kind of clothes do you want, Emma?" The little girl shrugged. "I usually get the older children's clothes." Regina sighed, she hated that Emma had such a rough past. She would make sure that as long as Emma was with her, she'd have everything she needed. "Okay, so I was thinking we could buy you a few dresses and jeans with t-shirts. We also need to find you a good sweater, a jacket, pajamas and a backpack for school."

Showing Emma a pink dress, made the young girl look disgusted. "No pink." She said firmly. Regina soon discovered red and purple were Emma's favorite colors, as those were the only colors she picked out. After they found everything they needed, Regina paid and they went to the shoe store. Here they bought a pair of boots and a pair of sneakers.

After lunch they finally arrived to the toy store. Regina was surprised to see Emma so amazed. "Is this the first time someone's taking you to a toy store?" She asked and Emma confirmed. "Well, go on then. Go find something you like." She didn't have to tell her twice, as Emma had already rushed inside. She had to hurry to keep up with the child, but found her standing mesmerized in front of the dolls. "Wow." The child exclaimed, which Regina found just too adorable. "You can pick any doll you like." Emma looked up at her for a second with the widest smile, Regina had ever seen on her. She picked one out and held it out to Regina with a questioning look. "Hmm?" Regina said, kneeling in front of the child. "Isn't your doll going to be lonely if it's all alone?" Emma shook her head. "I'm going to play with her every day and take her everywhere I go." Regina chuckled. "Are you sure you don't want another one too?" Emma just shook her head. As they were about to pay, Regina noticed Emma look at the stuffed rabbit from "Bambi". Regina grabbed one and paid, handing Emma both new toys. Emma smiled and hugged her tightly. "Thank you." She said, before yawning. "You're the best." She whispered as Regina buckled her up in the car. Closing the door, Regina noticed that Emma had already fallen asleep.

It had been a very exhausting day, but they had bought everything the little girl needed. Regina cooked them a light dinner, before she woke the three-year-old from her nap. After dinner, she changed Emma into her new pajama, tucked her in and read her a bedtime story.

When she fell asleep, Regina put away all her new things and threw out everything that she didn't need anymore, while thinking back to all the loving moments of their day together. Regina could honestly say that it was one of the best days she'd had in a long time and it was all thanks to Emma. Taking in this child had been the best decision she'd made for herself.


	5. Misunderstandings can cause accidents

A few weeks later, Karen called Regina to check up on Emma. "Oh she's doing great. I really think she's happy here." Emma walked into the kitchen, but Regina didn't notice. The brunette was facing the window, while listening to the woman on the other end of the line. "Of course, Karen. I'll talk to you soon." As soon as Emma heard her social worker's name, she assumed the worst. She did the only thing she could think of and that was to go ask for help.

As Regina hung up the phone she heard the front door close loudly. She immediately knew what had happened and ran after the child. Regina was just running outside as she saw it happen. Emma, wanting to cross the road for some reason, had forgotten to look for cars. The car had seen Emma run out of the house and hit the brakes as hard as possible, but it was too late. Luckily, the car wasn't driving very fast when it hit Emma, but the little girl still flew a few feet back, landing on her arm and breaking it.

Regina was at her side only a few seconds later and took her in her arms. Emma was unconscious, but as far as Regina could see other than a broken arm, she seemed to be fine. Mary Margaret hastily exited the car and ran towards the Mayor. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I didn't see her!" As Regina heard that irritating voice she snapped. "You idiot!" she screamed, "you could have killed her! You were driving much too fast. I will inform the sheriff of this, Miss Blanchard, and you will pay for it."

She picked up Emma and went to her car. She quickly drove Emma to the hospital, holding Emma in her lap, even if that wasn't legal. She was frightened for the girl's life. In only a few short weeks Emma and Regina had grown very close. They spent every minute they could in each other's company. Regina truly loved the child; she loved her as if she was her own daughter.

Once they arrived at the hospital, Dr. Whale took Emma into an examination room, while Regina went to call the sheriff. By the time Regina got into Emma's room, the child had a red cast on her arm. Regina rushed to her and hugged her tightly, making sure not to hurt her arm. "I'm so sorry, darling." Regina whispered, while kissing Emma's forehead. The doctor cleared his throat and Regina turned towards him. "She has a bump on her head and a broken arm, but other than that she seems fine. I would advise keeping a close watch on her for a couple days. If she feels any dizziness, that would indicate on a light concussion. If that happens just give me a call. I also prescribed her some light pain meds for her arm." Regina nodded and thanked the doctor.

"Do you want to go to the dinner?" Emma shrugged, looking sadly out of the car window. Silent tears started rolling down her cheeks. Regina parked in front of Granny's and got out of the car, walking around it to open the door for Emma. That's when she saw the tears. "Darling, what's wrong? Does your arm hurt?" Emma shook her head. "I don't want to go back." She stated sadly. Regina didn't immediately catch on to what Emma was referring to. "Go back where, Emma?" She asked softly. "I don't want to go back." Emma cried. "I want to stay with you." Now Regina understood and felt bad for giving the girl the wrong idea. "Oh, baby, I'm not sending you back. I promise." Emma looked up at her with teary eyes. "But you said to Karen-" Regina interrupted her. "That I will see her soon?" Emma nodded. "That's because she wanted to see you for your birthday in a few weeks, baby. I promise, you're not going anywhere, okay?" Emma nodded and opened her arms for a hug, which Regina didn't hesitate to give. "Was that why you ran away?" Emma nodded, ashamedly. "Promise me you'll never do that again? You really scared me." Emma promised. "I'm sorry. I promise I won't do it again."

Ruby saw them enter the diner and rushed over, picking up the small girl. "Hey, little one. What happened to your arm?" She asked her. "I got hit by a car, when I ran away from Regina." Ruby gasped surprised and looked up at Regina for an explanation. The older brunette quickly explained what happened. "Emma, you should never run away from Regina like that. She really loves you, you know?" Emma looked down. "I really love Regina too, but I thought she would send me back. I wanted to find you, so you could help me." Regina smiled lovingly as she heard the child say she loved her.

Changing the subject, Ruby said: "A little bird told me it's your birthday in a few weeks." Emma's eyes widen. "You can talk to birds?" She asked innocently. Both the older women chuckled at her innocence. "So," Ruby continued, "what do you want for your birthday, Princess?" Emma thought about it very hard, before she looked Ruby in the eye and then Regina. "I want you to be my Mommy." The little blonde told Regina.


	6. Will you be my Mommy?

"_So," Ruby continued, "what do you want for your birthday, Princess?" Emma thought about it very hard, before she looked Ruby in the eye and then Regina. "I want you to be my Mommy." The little blonde told Regina. _

In that exact moment, Regina couldn't imagine being any happier. Tears of happiness filled her eyes, as she took little Emma in her arms and hugged her tightly. The child hugged her back with the arm that wasn't broken. "Do you want to be my Mommy?" she asked, after not getting a response from her foster mother. "I'd love to be your Mommy, Sweetheart. I already asked Karen to send me the adoption files." Emma smiled brightly. "Really? You're really going to be my Mommy?" Regina smiled. "Yes, Emma. I love you, my darling." Emma kissed Regina's cheek. "I love you too, Mommy."

It was the first time Emma actually called Regina 'Mommy' and it made the brunette even happier. They were going to be a family and nothing could stop them. Both of them had had a rough past, but they were going to have a good future together. After a few seconds, Emma frowned and looked between the two brunettes. "Will that make Ruby my Auntie?" She asked. "I don't know. Why don't you ask her?" Regina suggested with a smile. Emma looked at Ruby with hopeful eyes. "Ruby, do you want to be my auntie?" Ruby grinned and kissed Emma's forehead. "I'll be whatever you want me to be, Princess." And just like that Emma had gotten herself a perfect, loving family.

"So, I have to go back to work, but how about I bring you a hot chocolate with cinnamon?" Emma looked up at Regina with questioning eyes and Regina nodded to Ruby. "Oh and can you bring me a coffee, please?" Ruby nodded and left to get their drinks while mother and daughter found a booth in the diner. Apart from the accident, the day turned out great for both mother and daughter.

**A/N: Sorry, this chapter is rather short, but I hope you like it anyway**

**Next chapter will be longer, I promise.**


	7. Best Birthday Ever

Emma slowly woke up, but once she realized what day it was today, she jumped up with a huge grin and ran to Regina's bedroom. "Mommy. Mommy! Wake up! I'm this old today." She yelled, holding up four fingers. "Happy birthday, baby" Regina said tiredly and looked at the clock. It was just a little after 5AM. "It's still early, Sweetheart. Why don't you lie down with me for a little bit?" Emma smiled and quickly crawled onto the bed and snuggled close to Regina. It didn't take long for the small blonde to fall back asleep.

Both mother and daughter woke up almost at the same time, a little over an hour later. "Good morning, birthday girl." Regina said, kissing the child's cheek. "Morning, Mommy. Did you sleep well?" The brunette smiled at the adorable little girl. "I slept very well, especially when you were here with me. How about you?" Regina sat up and the little girl sat herself in her lap. "I did too." The child answered. "So,' Regina asked, "do you want to go see Auntie Ruby for breakfast at the diner?" Emma grinned excitedly. "Can Auntie Ruby make us pancakes again? Please, Mommy?" Regina loved how excited Emma could get about such small things. "Of course, baby. Anything for the birthday girl."

A few minutes later, Regina led the girl into her room to get her dressed. "I bought you a new dress for your birthday." Regina said, showing Emma a beautiful red dress. Emma's eyes were sparkling with joy. "It's so pretty." She said. Regina helped her get dressed and did the child's beautiful golden hair. Afterwards she put some cartoons on for her to entertain her, while she herself got dressed.

Upon entering the diner, Emma rushed over to Ruby. The waitress put down the plates she was carrying and took the blonde in her arms. "Happy Birthday, Princess." Emma smiled and held up her four fingers like she had done for Regina earlier that morning. "Now I'm this old, Auntie Ruby." She said. Both brunettes smiled at her enthusiasm. "I guess you want a plate of broccoli for your birthday breakfast?" Emma pulled a disgusted face and shook her head. "Mommy said you'd make me pancakes." Ruby, wanting to tease the child, looked at Regina with mock surprise. "Mommy? You told this little one I'd make her pancakes, but I only have broccoli." Emma's eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. Ruby and Regina chuckled and Ruby tickled Emma, making her squeal. "I'm just kidding, little one. I'll bring you your pancakes in a few minutes."

Emma, while still in Ruby's arms, put her hands on her hips and frowned. "I'm not little anymore. I'm this old now." Again showing the brunette four fingers. "You may be a big girl now, but you'll always stay my little one, Princess." Ruby said, making Emma pout and Regina chuckle. Ruby sat Emma down in their usual booth and went to the kitchen to get their pancakes, a hot chocolate for Emma and a coffee for Regina. When she returned she placed everything on the table, before handing Emma a present.

The little girl looked at the wrapped box and then looked between Ruby and Regina with a confused look on her face. "What is it?" Regina and Ruby looked at each other, before looking back at the child. "It's your birthday present, Emma." Ruby explained. "Open it and see what's inside." She told her. The small child grabbed the wrapping paper and gently pulled it open, making sure not to break it. "It's just wrapping paper, Emma. You can break it, if you want." With that the little girl pulled harder and unwrapped the present, not caring about the paper anymore.

"Look, Mommy! Auntie Ruby gave me a box of crayons." Emma squealed excitedly. "I see, darling. What do you say to Auntie Ruby?" Emma grabbed Ruby's arm and pulled her down to her height, so she could kiss her cheek. "Thank you, Auntie Ruby." After that they ate their pancakes.

Once they had finished their breakfast, Regina took Emma to the park. Regina was happy to look at a cheerful Emma playing on the swings. When she was tired of it, Emma ran to her adoptive mother and sat on her lap on the bench. That was the moment Regina chose to give Emma her first present. "I get another one?" She asked Regina. The brunette nodded and gestured for Emma to open it. Inside a little box was a heart shaped locket. Regina picked it up and opened it to show Emma the picture inside. It was a picture from a few days ago from Regina and Emma together. "This way, no matter where you are or who you're with, I'll always be close to you." Regina explained. Emma hugged the brunette tightly. As they broke apart, Regina hung Emma's locket around the blonde's neck.

After an early lunch at home, Regina tucked Emma in for her nap. Just as she was about to leave the room a little voice called out to her. "Will you stay with me, please?" Regina smiled and nodded. She walked back into the room, laying down next to the little blonde and held her close. Regina ended up taking a little nap of her own.

Two hours later, the two of them woke up and got ready for Emma's birthday party. Regina had invited Ruby and Grannie, Belle, Katherine, Graham and Emma's new friends from school. The first one to arrive was Ruby, who walked with Emma to the study/the children's playroom for the day. Once Emma was distracted, Regina let Grannie in with the cake and led her to the kitchen. Next to arrive were Belle, Graham and Emma's best friends, Elsa and Anna. And finally the last guests arriving were Katherine, August, Nicolas and Ava. While the grownups settled in the living room, Emma and the other kids decided to play hide and seek with Ruby, who was happy to entertain them.

An hour into the party the doorbell rang. Emma, already distracted from her game of hide and seek, hurried to the door and waited patiently for Regina to open it. After her accident a few weeks ago, Regina had made Emma promise never to open the front door alone again. A loud squeal left Emma's mouth as she saw who was on the other side of the door. She rushed out and into Karen's waiting arms. "Happy birthday, Sweetie." Regina ushered the woman inside and led her to the living room. "So, do you like it here?" Karen asked Emma. "I love it here." Emma answered. "I have a Mommy now and Auntie Ruby and two best friends." She told excitedly. Then Emma's eyes fill with sadness. "But I miss you." Karen hugs the child tightly. "Well, I'm here now and I brought you your birthday cupcake." Emma looked up at her and asked: "With a star candle?" Karen held out the cupcake with the star candle on top. "Of course, it wouldn't be a real birthday without it now, would it?" Emma shook her head and blew out the candle."

The rest of the party was spent eating cake, opening lots of presents and playing with the other kids, but always keeping an eye on Karen to make sure she wasn't leaving without saying goodbye. At the end of the afternoon, everybody went home, leaving behind Karen and Ruby to help Regina and Emma clean up. After that Ruby also went home and Emma knew what was coming next. She quickly clung to Karen's leg. "Hey, Sweetie, I'm going to have to go back now." She said softly, while picking up the child. "But I don't want you to leave." Emma said sadly. "I know, Sweetie, but I have to. You have a family now, but still need to find one for Maddie and the other kids." Emma nodded sadly and hugged Karen tightly and signaling her mom she wanted to be in her arms.

Regina and Emma ate dinner together, before watching one of Emma's new Disney movies. Once the movie ended, Regina carried Emma up to her room and changed her into her pajama. "Can I sleep with you tonight, please?" Emma asked, yawning. "Of course, my love." As they cuddled in bed Regina asked: "Did you have a good day, darling?" Emma nodded sleepily. "Best birthday ever." She said, before falling asleep after an exhausting day.


	8. Haircuts and Bad Memories

**A/N: Thank you, ****EvilQueensDaughterRapunzel****,**** for your idea (****How about a chapter with Emma's first haircut? Regina is hesitant at first because her own first haircut was a complete disaster. Cora shaved her head as punishment for playing with a boy without permission when she was 8.)**

"Mommy? Can I get my hair cut?" Emma asked. Regina had just picked her up from Anna and Elsa's, where she had spent the afternoon. "Why would you want to cut it? It's so beautiful?" Emma pouted. "Because, Anna and Elsa got their hair cut and mine is too long." Regina sighed. "I'll think about it, okay?" Emma looked out the window and sighed. "Sure." She knew that if she kept talking about it, it would definitely be 'no'.

That night Regina lay in bed thinking about what her daughter had asked her. She thought back to her own first haircut and shuddered at the memory.

_Regina was eight years old when she snuck out to go play with a boy in the park, even though her mother had told her "a little lady like her doesn't go play outside with some boy. It's not very lady-like." Regina had rolled her eyes and had gone out anyway. She had had a great day, until she had gotten home. Her mother was waiting for her in the foyer with her hands on her hips and a raised eyebrow. It was the first time that Regina had gotten her in real trouble and she knew it was not going to be pretty._

_After being yelling at her for over an hour, Cora finally calmed down a bit. "Fine, you want to go outside and play with the boys? Then you are no lady and if you are no lady, then you are a boy." Cora grabbed a piece of Regina's hair, grabbed the scissors she had prepared and cut of the hair in her hand. "Boys don't have long, pretty hair, like yours." Cora continued, while grabbing the razor of the table. "No! Please, don't." Regina begged, but Cora wouldn't listen. "No, Regina, you need to learn to listen and this is the only way I know you'll behave." Her mother said, while shaving of her hair. Regina was sobbing as all her beautiful brown hair was falling to the ground. "Next time, you should listen to me."_

_As she was done, Cora shoved Regina in front of the mirror that was hanging in the foyer. As soon as Regina sees that all her hair is gone, she screams and runs to her room crying. Cora chuckled at the reaction. "That should teach her to disobey me." She said to herself, while following her daughter up the stairs. She stands in the doorway of Regina's bedroom and __looks at the crying girl. "Stop crying, it's pathetic. You should have known better than to disobey me. I told you you'd get punished and you went out with that boy anyway. You wanted to play with boys, well, now you look like one too." _

Regina shuddered again as she remember how long it had taken to all grow back. If she were to let Emma cut her hair, she would make sure that they wouldn't cut too much. She also promised herself that she would never be as harsh and mean to her daughter, as her mother was to her. She wanted to be a better mother to Emma, than Cora had been for her. Her heart ached as she thought about how little her mother had cared for her. She wanted to give Emma so much love, to make sure that the child would never feel as unwanted as she had growing up and as Emma herself, before she came to Storybrooke.

The next morning, the little blonde woke her up. "Mommy, did you think about it?" She asked in her adorable, childish voice. Regina smiled and kissed the blonde's forehead. "Good morning, darling. Yes, I've thought about it. I guess you can get your hair cut, but not too short, okay?" Emma smiled happily and put her hand a little under her shoulder. "Like this?" she asked and Regina agreed. This was not going to be the same, as her first haircut, Regina reminded herself as she became nervous.

After getting dressed and eating breakfast at Granny's, as they did almost every day now, Regina and Emma walked hand in hand to the hairdresser's. Regina became more and more nervous with each step closer. As they stepped inside, she thought about telling Emma she'd changed her mind, but as she looked down and saw how excited she was, she couldn't disappoint her like that. So she sucked it up and put a nervous smile on her face.

"So, how do you want it cut?" The hairdresser asked Emma and again, Emma showed just under her shoulder. "Not too short, please." Regina pleaded with the hairdresser, who gave her an understanding look. As she started cutting, Regina watched her every move, making sure that she wouldn't cut anything of she shouldn't. The longer it took, the more relaxed Regina started to feel. By the time it was done, all her nerves were gone.

Seeing her daughter so happy, made Regina happy and she knew she had made the right decision. _She would have had to cut it eventually_, she told herself. After she paid, the hairdresser gave Emma some candy, which made the child's smile even wider.

Even though nothing bad had happened, Regina was still glad it was over. Emma won't be getting her hair cut again any time soon, if it all depended on Regina. But as long as it made her daughter happy, Regina would agree to almost anything.


	9. Worried Sick

When Emma was sick for the first time, Regina freaked out and rushed her to the hospital. The doctors had told her not to worry, that it was just the flu and it should pass in a few days, but Regina hated seeing her usually so cheerful little girl so weak. On their way home, Regina stopped at the pharmacy to get Emma the meds that the doctor had prescribed her.

Once they were home, Regina immediately made sure Emma was dressed warmly and tucked her into bed. "Mommy?" A weak little voice asked. "Sleep now, my darling. Mommy will be here when you wake up." The feverish child nodded and fell asleep, holding her mother's hand.

Regina couldn't find it in herself to leave the child alone. She was worried that if she left for even a second, Emma would feel worse and she couldn't do that to her daughter. She quickly texted her office to tell them that she needed to take care of her daughter, before calling Ruby.

"I don't know what to do." Regina whispered desperately. "She has a high fever. Ruby, I'm so worried about her." She listened to the younger brunette's reassurances. "No, I haven't eaten, but I'm scared to leave her." Ruby told her that she'd come by with something to eat for Regina and some chicken soup for Emma. Regina thanked her and told her that when she got her, she could just let herself in, still refusing to leave the child.

A few days had past and Emma still wasn't feeling better, so Regina did the only thing she could think of: she called Ruby and cried. "I can't loose her, Ruby! I love her so, so much." Ruby reassured her that having the flu could last for a week or two, but that Regina really needed to get some sleep. "I can't sleep. What if she wakes up and she needs me?" Regina asked. "Then you take a matrass and you sleep in her room, but it's not healthy, Regina. You haven't slept for days now." Regina fell asleep a few minutes after doing what Ruby had told her to.

The next morning she was relieved to find that Emma's fever was gone and that her baby girl was feeling better. When she had woken up, Emma was playing quietly with her dolls, being careful not to wake her mother. Regina smiled and played with the child the whole morning.

She knew now that she wouldn't loose Emma. It reassured her and she let herself relax more. Emma was so happy that her Mommy wanted to play with her, that Regina decided that she could take the afternoon of work too and just enjoy spending time with her daughter.

"So, what do you want to do this afternoon, baby?" Regina asked after having a light lunch. Emma's face lit up at hearing that her mother would be spending the day with her. "Can we play with the dolls for a little longer and then maybe watch a movie?" Regina smiled. "Of course, we can, my love." Emma hugged her mother, silently thanking her. "I love you, Mommy." Regina kissed the child's cheek. "I love you too, darling."

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry, it's another short update… I don't really have a lot of time right now and I don't have a lot of inspiration… All ideas are welcome! I'll try to make the next chapter longer, but I make no promises… **


	10. First Real Christmas

**A/N: I'm sorry that it took so long to post a new chapter, but I had a lot of work for school and then I had a lot of Christmas- and New Years parties... I hope you'll like this chapter ;) Let me know what you think and if you have ideas for the next chapters... Enjoy**

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><p>"Baby, it's almost Christmas," Regina said, smiling at Emma, "do you want to go pick a tree together today?" Emma frowned at her.<p>

"Mommy, why do we need a tree for Christmas?" Emma asked confused. The question made Regina frown.

"To put the presents under, Emma. Where did you put the presents in the other homes?" The child shrugged looking down. "I never got presents," she told her adoptive mother.

Regina's heart broke of sadness for the little girl she loved so much. "Well, this year, I promise, you'll get a lot of presents." She lifted the girl in her arms. The blonde child instinctively wrapped her arms around her mother's neck, hugging her tightly.

Regina helped Emma dress warmly and put on her warm winter coat and boots. When the child was ready, she got ready herself.

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><p>Once they had picked the perfect tree, they went back home and Regina got the decorations. She then put them next to the tree, so Emma could reach them easily.<p>

Regina told Emma to start putting decorations on the tree, while she went into the kitchen to make them hot cocoa with cinnamon.

Suddenly Regina heard glass breaking in the living room and hurried there. Emma was looking down at the broken ornament and tears streaming down her face.

When she got closer, she noticed that there was blood on Emma's clothes. "Baby, are you okay?" Emma looked up at her. "I'm sorry, Mommy." Regina knelt in front of her and looked for injuries, finding cuts on her hands.

"How did you hurt yourself," Regina asked worriedly. Emma looked down guiltily. "I wanted to hang the ornament, but it fell and broke. I wanted to pick it up, but I cut my hands." Emma explained quietly, scared that Regina would get angry.

"It's okay, darling. Let's go take care of those cuts." She picked up the little girl and carried her upstairs to the main bathroom, where the first aid kit was.

While she disinfected the wounds, she asked Emma to pick the bandage she wanted. "Can I have that one, with the Princess on it, please? She looks like you." This comment made Regina smile.

She put the chosen bandage on the wound and kissed her daughter's cheek. "All done." She said helping Emma down from the counter. "Come on, lets go finish decorating the tree together." Regina said, leading Emma back to the living room.

When they finished, Regina went to get the hot cocoas. They sat on the couch together and admired their work. It wasn't as structured as Regina usually did it, but she found it more beautiful this way, just because Emma had done it.

"Oh, baby, we almost forgot the star on top," Regina said, putting both her own and Emma's drink on the table. She handed Emma the star, before lifting the little girl so she could reach the top of the tree.

"Can we put the presents under it now, Mommy?" Regina chuckled. "Do you think I already bought presents?" She asked. Emma nodded excitedly, making Regina chuckle even more. She nodded and went to retrieve the presents she'd already wrapped.

She let Emma arrange them under the tree.

After that, they settled on the couch to watch a Christmas movie, but as soon as it started Emma had fallen asleep her head in Regina's lap.

The brunette smiled down at the child and stroked a few locks of golden hair out of the little girl's face.

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><p>The next morning they went to Granny's for breakfast. As soon as the car was parked and Regina had helped Emma out of her car seat, the blonde ran inside.<p>

"Aunt Ruby!" She yelled as she got to the counter. The young brunette smiled brightly and picked up the child. "Good morning, Emma. How are you?" Emma was smiling brightly.

"Auntie Ruby, will you take me shopping tomorrow? I need to find Mommy a Christmas present!" The young brunette smiled.

"I'll ask your Mom." Emma shook her head, eyes wide. "It has to be a surprise. Mommy can't know yet."

"What can't I know?" Regina asked raising an eyebrow. "Nothing," Emma said innocently. "Emma, it's not good to lie." She scolded, making Emma look down, tears in her eyes.

"Emma wanted to spend the day with me tomorrow, but she didn't know how to ask," Ruby helped. Regina nodded. "Okay, but promise me not to lie again." She looked at her daughter.

"I promise, Mommy."

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><p>It was Christmas morning and Emma was very excited, even though it was still very early. She ran to her mother's room and jumped on the bed. "Mommy. Mommy! Wake up! It's Christmas!" She yelled excitedly.<p>

"Merry Christmas, Darling," Regina mumbled sleepily. Emma sighed, understanding that her Mom wasn't going to wake up completely for a little while. She lied down next to her mother and fell back asleep for a few hours.

When they woke up again, they got up and got dressed, expecting Ruby to arrive to spend Christmas morning with them.

Just as they were both ready, the doorbell rang. "Auntie Ruby!" Emma yelled running down the stairs and almost tripping.

"No running in the house, Emma." Regina told her daughter, as they opened the door to a grinning brunette.

"Merry Christmas, little one, Regina." She greeted them. Emma grabbed one of her hands and one of Regina's and led them to the living room.

Both women chuckled at the child's excitement. "Can I give the first present, Mommy?" The blonde asked hopefully. Regina nodded and Emma grabbed a very badly wrapped present, handing it to Ruby.

She opened the present and smiled. Inside was an artwork Emma had made at school, just before Christmas break. "Did you make this?" Emma nodded. "It's beautiful. Thank you." Ruby hugged the little girl tightly.

Next Regina picked a present and gave it to her daughter, who didn't waste a second ripping the paper away from her new toy. "A Barbie doll! Cool!" Emma squealed. She got up and kissed her mother's cheek, sitting on her lap, playing with her doll.

A few minutes later, she asked her Mom to hold her doll and retrieved another badly wrapped present, giving it to Regina, who gave back her doll, when she was once more seated on her lap.

"Oh, Emma!" Regina gasped as she saw the necklace inside the wrapped box. "How did you get this?" She wondered aloud.

Emma smiled proudly. "I went shopping with Auntie Ruby and then helped in the diner to pay for it," she explained. "Do you like it?" She asked insecurely.

Regina smiled. "It's beautiful, my love." She kissed the little girl tightly, whispering "thank you" in the child's ear.

There were a lot more presents to open, mostly for Emma, but Emma had also wrapped a few more artworks she'd made at school for both women.

It was a great Christmas. The first real Christmas for all three of them and it was absolutely perfect.

The last present, Regina had purposely kept until the end. She handed Emma a piece of paper, making the little girl frown, as she couldn't read yet.

"You know what that is, darling?" She asked the little girl. Emma shook her head. "It's the paper that says that you are officially my daughter."

Emma smiled very widely and hugged her now official adoptive mother tightly. "I love you, Mommy" she said, kissing the brunette's cheek. "I love you too, baby"

It really was a perfect Christmas.


	11. Someone to Kiss at Midnight

It was once again a lonely start of the New Year for Regina. She sighed. Her daughter was too young to stay up so late and couldn't start the New Year with her.

She was completely alone in the living room of her huge mansion and she couldn't help to feel sad and alone ten minutes before midnight.

She went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of red wine. If she was going to spend the night alone, she might as well get so drunk she wouldn't remember anything the following morning.

She sat in front of the TV and watched as other people partied happily together.

She wished she had someone who loved her, someone to kiss at midnight.

Five minutes left.

She downed the whole glass of wine and grabbed a bottle to serve herself another one.

She'd always hated the holidays, because being alone was bad, but being alone during the holidays was even worse.

At least she'd had a great Christmas with her baby girl and Ruby.

Two minutes left.

"Mommy?" She heard a tired little voice. She turned around and saw her daughter in the doorway.

"Baby, what are you doing up?" She asked worriedly. She hurried up and walked towards the child, kneeling in front of her.

"You said it'd be New Year at midnight and I wanted to wish you a happy New Year." Emma said, yawning. Regina looked in awe at her daughter.

Just at that moment she could hear the countdown start on TV.

10… maybe this wasn't so bad after all…

9… Her baby girl was here. She wasn't alone…

8…

7…

6…

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

"Happy New Year, darling. I love you" she kissed the little girl's cheek lovingly. "Happy New Year, Mommy. I love you too" Emma wrapped her arms around her mother's neck.

She'd had her New Year's kiss after all and she couldn't have wished better than her daughter.

Maybe she'd come to love the holidays after all…


	12. A Snowy Day in Storybrooke

**A/N: Hey guys, thanks for all your reviews :)**

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><p>It was a few days into the New Year. Regina woke up later than usual and hurried down the stairs, when she hadn't found her daughter in her room.<p>

She found Emma sat in front of the glass back door, looking outside as it was snowing. Regina smiled and sat down next to her, pulling the child into a hug.

The young blonde smiled and looked up at her mother, then back outside. "Can we go play outside?"

Regina kissed the top of her daughter's head. "After breakfast, okay?" Emma nodded.

They stayed sat like that for a little while, just watching the snow fall, before they went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

As soon as the plate was in front of her, Emma ate as fast as she could, wanting to go outside. "Slow down a little, darling. Take the time to chew your food. The snow will still be there when you're done."

When they had cleaned up the breakfast table, Emma rushed upstairs to get dressed. She put on her warm clothes, before hurrying to her mother's room.

"Are you ready?" She asked excitedly. Regina chuckled at her daughter's impatience.

"Almost, darling. We just have to put on our coats, boots and gloves and then we can go outside." Regina told the blonde child.

She helped her daughter into her coat and wrapped her scarf around her neck. She handed the blonde her boots and her gloves, before putting on her own coat and boots.

Once they were ready, Emma dragged Regina to the backyard. "Let's build a snowman, Mommy." Emma was so excited. It was the first time she was aloud to go play in the snow.

Her previous foster parents always forbade her to go outside alone and they never wanted to play outside with her, especially not when it was snowing.

They built a huge snowman together. When they were done, Emma ran inside, making Regina frown. A few seconds later, Emma was back outside with a carrot in her left hand and another scarf in her right hand. She finished the snowman and looked at her Mom proudly.

"It's beautiful, baby." Regina said, taking out her phone, taking a picture of her daughter and the snowman they'd built.

She then went to stand next to her daughter and took a selfie of them both with the snowman.

While she put her phone back into her pocket, Emma had made a snowball. When Regina looked up, the child threw the snowball at her. As it hit her mother, Emma started laughing.

The laughter stopped as Regina had thrown a snowball back at the young girl. Emma looked at Regina surprised, before starting to laugh once more.

They had a snowball war for the rest of the morning, but Emma was getting tired and hungry. She was soaking wet and cold. She lay down on the ground and made a snow angel.

Regina took another picture of Emma. "Come on, Emma. Let's go inside to have lunch and then after your nap, we can go sledging." The small blonde girl stood hastily and followed her mother inside. They changed, before eating lunch.

"Can you nap with me, please, Mommy?" Regina nodded and they went to her bedroom. Regina laid down first and then Emma laid down with her head on her mothers shoulder, her left arm around the brunette's waist and Regina wrapped both her arms around the tiny girl.

It didn't take long for both of them to fall asleep.

In the afternoon, they went sledging near the town line. There were a few other families, but there was plenty of room on the hill for all of them to sledge together.

At some point Regina asked one of the other parents to take some pictures of both of them.

"Mommy, I'm cold," Emma said a little while later. "Do you want to go to Granny's for hot cocoa?" Emma nodded, smiling brightly.

"Thank you, Mommy. I had fun today." Regina smiled back at her. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, darling."


	13. Bathtub confessions

**A/N: Warning: mention of abuse**

**More ideas?**

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><p>Regina ran Emma a bubble bath. She helped her daughter undress and saw the scars on the child's body. She'd seen them before, but had never had the courage her daughter about them.<p>

She took a deep breath. "How did you get these scars, baby?" Regina asked sadly. Emma looked away from her. She stepped into the tub and tears started to fill her eyes.

"My former foster dads… They used to-" Emma sighed, a tear running down her face, "They used to beat me, whenever they drank or when I didn't listen." She said.

"I had to go to the hospital a few times, but the parents made me say I just fell. I was so scared, Mommy," Regina took the girl's hand in hers to reassure her.

"You don't need to be scared anymore, baby. I won't ever let anything like that happen to you again, okay?" Emma nodded, but still didn't meet Regina's eyes.

"One woman burned me with her cigarettes," Emma continued, "and the other kids often took my food and toys and locked me in the basement or some other room."

Regina sighed. She was sad and angry at the same time. How could people do this to a child, to this adorable little girl?

She took a deep breath in order to calm herself down. She helped her daughter wash her long, gorgeous blonde hair.

"Do you feel safe here, Emma?" She asked after she finished rinsing Emma's hair.

Emma nodded weakly. "I know you'll protect me, but-" she trailed of.

"But what, darling?" Regina asked, not sure if she'd like the answer, but she needed to know.

"What if you're not there?" Emma asked, scared.

"Oh, honey. There'll always be someone there to protect you, I promise. At school, that's the teachers. There's Ruby and Granny. Here in town almost everyone will do anything to protect you, okay?"

Emma nodded and met Regina's eyes for the first time since she stepped into the bathtub.

Her mother helped her out of the bath and helped her dry of. They both put their pajamas on and sat on Regina's bed to watch a movie.

Needing to have her daughter close after the heavy conversation in the bathroom, Regina suggested that Emma sleep in her bed tonight. The little girl agreed excitedly, sleeping with her mother always kept her nightmares away.


	14. Birth Parents

Regina was pacing in her study. At Emma's request, she had looked for the young child's birth parents. After a few days of searching she had finally found the answer and it was an understatement to say she wasn't pleased.

"How dare they?" She growled. "It's their fault that my baby girl is scarred and traumatized."

She was furious, because she knew them and they were idiots for giving up such an adorable child and making her go through what she went through.

"I'm going to give them a piece of my mind," she decided. She thought about it for a second. "No, I'm not going to give them the opportunity of meeting my daughter! They should have thought before they gave her up."

Her daughter entered her study. "Mommy, do you want to watch a movie with me?" Regina stopped pacing and calmed down a little at the sight of her little girl.

"Sure," She said. She was getting a headache thinking about Emma's birth parents putting her through horrible foster families.

"What are we watching, darling?" Regina asked as she settled on the couch, waiting for her daughter to pick a movie.

"Can we watch Bambi?" Emma asked showing Regina the movie box.

"Okay," Regina smiled at Emma's thrilled face. "Do you want me to make some popcorn?" The little blonde's eyes lit up as she nodded furiously.

Regina chuckled at Emma's love for food. She went to the kitchen to make the sugary treat that her daughter loved so much.

"Mommy, did you find out who my birth parents are?" Emma asked, following her mother into the kitchen.

Regina sighed. She really didn't want her daughter to find out, who they were.

"Yes, I did, Emma, but they're not good people. I don't want you to meet them." Emma nodded understandingly.

"Do you know why they didn't want me?" The little blonde asked sadly.

"I don't know, Emma. I'm sorry. Either way, they're idiots, because you are the most beautiful, loving and amazing little girl I know and I love you very, very much."

Emma hugged her tightly. "I love you even more, Mommy."

Regina smiled and kissed the top of the child's head. "That's not possible, baby."

Emma pouted. "Yes, it is." The popcorn was ready and Regina placed it into a bowl, before following her daughter back to the living room, where they were going to watch Bambi.

After the movie and reading Emma her bedtime story, Regina went back to her study.

She took the paper on which was written the names of Emma's birth parents and read the names once more.

_**Emma Swan, daughter of Mary Margaret Blanchard and David Nolan, was born on 11**__**th**__** December 2011. **_

Regina rolled her eyes. "She's my daughter and my daughter only," Regina said, ripping up the paper, so nobody would ever be able to read it.

Emma never asked about her birth parents again, the only parent she cared about was her mother, Regina.


	15. Similar pasts

"Mommy? Why don't you ever let your hair grow longer?" Regina sighed. It was a normal question for a child of that age to ask, but that didn't make it any easier for her to answer.

Thinking back to the day her mother had cut of all her hair made her shudder.

"It's because-" Regina didn't know how to explain this so her four-year-old daughter would understand. "You see, my Mommy, she was a really mean woman. She had told me not to play outside with the boys-" Emma interrupted her.

"Why couldn't you go play with the boys?" The little Blonde had a frown on her face.

"Because, when I was your age, girls didn't go play outside. It wasn't classy." Regina hoped Emma would understand. "I went to play outside anyway, so my Mommy punished me."

Emma had a sad expression. She sat closer to Regina and hugged her tightly.

"What happened?" The child asked. Regina sighed. "My Mommy cut all of my hair of so I would look like a boy." Regina shuddered. Just thinking about it made her want to cry.

"My foster mom did that too," Emma said, receiving a confused look from Regina. "She wanted a little boy instead of me." Emma shrugged after giving the explanation.

Regina realized how much they had in common. She promised silently that those bad things that happened in both their past would never happen to this beautiful little girl again, if she had a way of stopping them.

Emma noticed the sad look on her mother's face and sat on her lap. She wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed her cheek sweetly.

"Don't worry," the little girl whispered in the brunette's ear, "I'll protect you." Regina's heart melted. It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her.

"Thank you, my love. And I'll always protect you. No matter what." She promised.

"You should let your hair grow," Emma said after a moment of silence. Regina smiled at her daughter. "You think?" Emma nodded. "It would be sooooo beautiful, Mommy." Emma stated.

"For you, I'd do anything." Regina said, kissing the Blonde's forehead.

She had never opened up this much to anyone before, but she knew that she could tell her daughter anything; the child would still love her.

Just like nothing could make her love Emma any less.

"Are you still sad, Mommy?" The child asked her. Regina smiled and shook her head. "No, my love, you make me very happy."

Emma smiled relieved. "Good, because I don't like when you're sad. I love you, Mommy."

"I love you too, baby"

After the little girl had fallen asleep that night, she had gotten Ruby to babysit for a few hours.

She went to the graveyard to visit her parents' grave. "Mom, Dad, I hope you can see how happy I am wherever you are." She said.

"Emma is the most perfect child. You would be so proud of her, Mom. She's so smart and beautiful, but she's also full of love. And she's so strong." She smiled at the thought of the little girl she'd adopted.

"I hope I'll be a better Mom to her than you were to me. I'd do anything to keep that gorgeous smile on her face." The thought of her daughter's smile brought a smile to her own face.

"She's the best thing that ever happened to me." Her heart was so full of love the young child. So much that she would have said it was impossible, if you'd asked her before she'd met Emma.

She talked about Emma to her parents for a few hours, before going back home.

She thanked Ruby for watching over her daughter while she was gone and then headed upstairs to check on the little girl.

She quietly opened the door and stayed in the doorway a little while, admiring the adorable little girl, sleeping peacefully in her little bed.

She couldn't imagine her life being any more perfect than it was right now.

She watched the sleeping girl a little longer, before heading to bed herself. Everything was the way it was supposed to be. She had everything she'd always wished for.


	16. Regina is going on a date

Regina had been asked on a date for the first time since Emma had arrived in town. She didn't know if she should accept or not. She wanted to, but she wasn't sure how Emma would feel about her dating someone.

"Emma, can we talk for a moment?" The blonde little girl hurried to her mother and sat at the counter while her mother was cooking.

"Would it be okay with you if I started dating someone?" Emma shrugged unsure of what that meant for her.

"You know Neal, right?" The blonde nodded. "Well, he wants to take Mommy to dinner Friday night. Is that okay with you?"

Emma frowned. "What about me?" she asked in her cute little voice. Regina smiled softly at the adorableness of her daughter. "Ruby can come here and play with you while I'm out," she suggested.

Emma looked sadly at her. "I thought you were going to take me to the stables Friday?" Regina's eyes widened. She had completely forgotten about the promise she had made to her daughter.

"I'm sorry, baby. I forgot. How about I take a day off tomorrow and I'll call your preschool and we'll go to the stables tomorrow." Regina felt guilty about forgetting the most important person in her life. How could she do this to her baby girl?

"Okay, but will you give me a kiss when you get home Friday?" Emma asked, excited about having the whole day tomorrow to hang out with her Mom.

"How about I tell Ruby that you can sleep in my bed on Friday night?" Emma's smile widened.

It was Friday and Regina was getting ready for her date, while Emma was watching her on the bed.

This was the first time she would leave Emma alone while she was awake. She was starting to get nervous about leaving her. What if something happened and she wasn't there? What if her baby girl needed her?

She had to keep reminding her that Ruby would be there and if there really was a problem, she'd call Regina.

"Do you have to go?" Emma asked, pouting sadly at her mother.

"I won't be gone very long, I promise." Regina said and kissed her daughter's cheek to reassure her.

"I'm scared, Mommy." Emma said. Regina stopped putting on her make up and sat next to her daughter on the bed.

"Why are you scared, baby?" She asked looking down at the child next to her.

"What if something bad happens?" Emma asked.

"Ruby will be here to protect you and I'm not very far, so if there's a problem I can be home in ten minutes." Regina tried to reassure her daughter.

Emma nodded sadly and hugged her Mom tightly, before watching her finish her make up.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. Emma and Regina walked hand in hand down the stairs to open the door.

It was Ruby. To both adults' surprise, Emma hid behind her mother's leg shyly.

"Come on, Emma. You know Ruby. Why are you so shy all of a sudden?" Regina asked, kneeling to Emma's eyelevel.

A tear rolled down the blonde's cheek. "I don't want you to go. I want to stay with you." Regina smiled sadly.

"I thought you wanted to show Ruby your new board game?" Emma shrugged. Regina took her hand and walked with her to the living room, where they had set up the game.

Just when Emma was distracted by her game with Ruby, the doorbell rang again. Regina mouthed a quick goodbye to Ruby, before grabbing her purse and heading to the foyer.

As soon as the front door closed, Emma looked up panicked and ran to the window, seeing her mother walk away frown the door.

"NO!" She screamed, making Regina turn around and wave at her. Tears streamed down the young blonde's face. "Come back!" she yelled, as Regina stepped into Neal's car.

Ruby walked over to where Emma was and turned her around so they were face to face. "What's wrong, Ems?" She asked.

"Mommy…" The young child sobbed, "She… She's not… coming… back…" She cried and cried, holding Ruby tightly. Finally Ruby didn't know what to do anymore to calm the blonde and called her mother.

**Regina's POV**

She had barely left the house, when the phone rang. When she saw it was Ruby, she sighed sadly.

She looked at Neal apologetically. "I'm sorry, I have to take this."

"Ruby, is everything okay?" She answered the phone. She could hear Emma sobbing at the other end of the line.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Regina, but Emma won't stop crying. She believes that you won't come back home." Regina's heart broke. That probably happened in one of Emma's previous homes.

Maybe this wasn't a good idea, she thought. "Can you pass her the phone, please?" Ruby agreed.

"Baby, Mommy's coming home in a few hours, okay. If you're a good girl to Ruby tonight and you go to sleep when she tells you to, then tomorrow, we'll go to the stables again, okay?"

"Promise?" She heard Emma's weak response. "I promise, baby. I'm not leaving you. I love you, baby." Regina said.

"I love you too, Mommy. I'll be a good girl now, I promise." Regina quickly said goodbye to her daughter and hung up the phone.

"Everything okay?" Neal asked. She nodded. "Emma just got a little scared that I wouldn't come home, but everything's better now."

"If you'd rather go home and do this another time…?" Neal suggested. "No, it's fine." Regina reassured him. She smiled, knowing that he was so concerned about her and her daughter.

The rest of their date went rather normally. After dinner, they went for a walk, before Neal drove Regina back home. He opened the door for her, after parking in front of the mansion and walked her to her doorstep.

He leaned in slowly and kissed her lips softly, lovingly. As he pulled back, they both smiled widely.

"Can I take you out again, next week?" He asked. She smiled widely and nodded. "How about I'll make us dinner? Wednesday at 7?" Regina suggested. "Sure, that way I'll get to know Emma better." This made them both smile.

Neal leaned in for another quick kiss, before going home himself.

Regina opened the front door and thanked Ruby for watching Emma.

After the younger brunette left, Regina walked quietly up the stairs to her bedroom and changed, before crawling into bed and snuggling close to her sleeping daughter.


	17. Second Dates and Interruptions

Regina was really excited for her second date with Neal. She had picked out the most adorable little dress for Emma and had put a dress that matched the color of Emma's on herself.

She was preparing dinner, when Emma burst in the kitchen tears streaming down her face. Regina turned around and noticed the blood on Emma's knees. "Darling, are you okay? What happened?"

"I fell and hurt my knees," the little girl explained. Regina nodded and helped her daughter to sit on the counter so she could disinfect her wounds.

"This is going to sting a little." Regina warned. As soon as the product touched the child's wound, she flinched, but didn't say anything. The brunette put a bandage on it and kissed Emma's forehead. "All done. You're so brave, Emma, but please be a little more careful next time."

Just as she helped Emma of the counter, the doorbell rang. Emma ran to the door and opened it, pouting as she saw who it was. "Are you going to take my Mommy away from me again?" Both Neal and Regina smiled at the adorableness of the little girl.

"No, baby, I'm staying right here with you, but I told you Neal was coming for dinner." Regina explained, while hanging Neal's coat away. Emma went back to her playroom, while Neal followed Regina back to the kitchen.

"It's nice to see how much she loves you," Neal commented on Emma's earlier statement. Regina smiled widely and nodded. "She's the most amazing child I know, but she's had a rough past. I just wish I'd have found her earlier." Regina sighed.

"You can't change the past, Regina. The best you can do for her is everything you're doing; loving her, taking care of her, giving her the future she would have never had without you. You're a great mother to her."

"I just want her to forget everything that happened to her." Regina whispered sadly. "She will. She's still young and it'll take some time, but she won't remember everything that happened to her." Neal tried to reassure her.

Suddenly the doorbell rang once more, making the brunette frown. She walked back to the front door. Seeing Karen on her front porch unannounced, made the brunette mother confused. "Karen? Can I help you?"

The woman had a frown on her face, which worried Regina greatly. "Is Emma here?" She finally asked. "Of course, Emma is here. This is her home." Karen nodded. "Could I see her, please?" Regina nodded and let the social worker into her house.

"Emma, someone's here to see you!" Regina called. The blonde little girl appeared at the top of the stairs. She started crying, seeing her social worker downstairs. The little girl, used to bad things happening to her, assumed the worst. She ran down the stairs and into her mother's arms.

"I don't want to go!" she sobbed into the brunette's shoulder. Regina's worries just got worse by that statement. Was Karen here to take her baby girl away from her?

"Neal, I'm afraid we're going to have to reschedule." Regina said, trying to sound calm for the sake of her daughter. Understanding that this wasn't an ideal situation, Neal kissed Regina's cheek and promised to call her, before heading out the door.

"Emma, are you okay, sweetie?" Karen asked as soon as they were alone. The blonde little girl tightened her grip on Regina. "I don't want to leave!" She yelled at her social worker.

"I'm not here to take you away from here, I promise. I was just worried about you." Emma loosened her grip on her mother a little and looked at the other woman.

Regina on the other hand, got even more worried. "What do you mean, you were worried about her. I do everything I can to raise her properly."

"This has nothing to do with you, Regina. I know how much you love Emma and you would never let anything happen to her, but…" She hesitated, looking at the young child. "Could I maybe talk to you in private, please?"

Regina put a movie on for her daughter, before guiding the other woman to her home office. "What's wrong?" She asked, as Karen didn't start talking.

The social worker took a deep breath. "One of Emma's most abusive foster fathers escaped from jail this morning. Emma was the last child to live with him and his wife. He was last seen not so far away from him, which is why I was so worried about her." Karen explained, rushing to get the words out as fast as she could.

"What did he do to her?" Regina asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer. "He…" Karen shook her head, trying to find a good way to tell the little girl's mother. Finally she decided there was no good way to put it.

"He hit her unconscious, he burned her with cigarettes. One time, he even pushed her down the stairs. During his trial, he said he did it because Emma didn't want to kiss him." Karen had a disgusted and angry look on her face.

"Emma was very badly injured and spent a few weeks in the hospital. She had a very bad concussion, a broken arm, bruised ribs, but those are only the physical injuries.

Before Regina could say anything, the social worker's cellphone rang. She had a brief conversation with the person on the other end of the line and then hung up, sighing relieved.

"The police have found him. He's going to have to appear before a judge once more and is facing at least a few more years in prison." Regina smiled, relieved that this nightmare was over.

She talked to Karen for a little while longer, before the social worker needed to go back home. After saying goodbye, she went to the living room, seeing Emma asleep on the couch.

She smiled and sat down next to her, placing the young girl's head on her lap. She stroked blonde locks out of her daughter's face. She couldn't understand how the child could sleep so peacefully after everything that she'd gone through, but it gave her hope. Hope that one day, Emma wouldn't remember all the awful things she'd been through in the past.

Neal called a little while later, wanting to know if the both of them were all right. Regina smiled gratefully. "We're both fine. I'm sorry I had to cancel on our date. Can we have our date tomorrow instead?" Neal agreed. "Maybe we could take Emma to the park tomorrow and have a picnic?" He suggested.

"I think Emma will love that idea. I can't wait to see you tomorrow." They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. Regina looked down at her daughter, still fast asleep, and smiled, thinking about what they were going to do the next day.


	18. Misunderstanding or not?

**A/N: Thanks to all of you who are following this story :) I love you all, you're amazing! Reviews are very much appreciated. If you have suggestions or comments for this story (or other stories), i would love to read them... Enjoy this new chapter and let me know what you think ;)**

* * *

><p>Early one morning, Regina woke up due to the doorbell ringing. She groaned, not wanting to get out of bed at this early hour, but whoever was standing on the other side of the door was very persistent.<p>

"What?" She growled, as she opened the door. She didn't recognize the woman standing before her. "I'm sorry to have woken you up so early, Madam, but I'm here to pick up a child. A little girl, named Emma?"

Regina narrowed her eyes. "What do you want with my daughter?" She demanded. "We have reason to believe the child is being abused. I'm here to take her to a group home, until the end of our investigation."

"Abused? I would never…" The social worker stopped her. "That's what they all say, Madam. We just need to get this investigation going."

"You can't just take my daughter away from me!" Regina said. "But I can. Here's a warrant that proves it. Now if you'll please go get the child for me… Otherwise, I have the authorization to go get her myself."

Regina reluctantly went upstairs and packed up a few of Emma's things, before waking her up. "I'm sorry, baby." She said, tears filling her eyes. "You have to go with this nice lady for a little while. I'll come and get you as soon as I can, I promise."

The child started sobbing. "Step away from the child!" the woman yelled, bursting into Emma's room. She put her hand on the little girl's shoulder, trying to guide her out of the house, but the child escaped her grip and ran back to her mother.

"Mommy, I don't want to go. I want to stay with you." The little blonde sobbed. "I know, sweetheart, but I'll see you soon, okay?" She quickly kneeled down to her daughter's level to give her a hug.

After a while Regina watched the other woman take her daughter away from her. She fell to her knees and sobbed. She sent Ruby a quick text needing her presence to reassure her that she'd get her daughter back.

* * *

><p>"Regina? What happened?" Ruby practically ran to the front porch, where the other brunette was still sobbing. "They… They took her from me!" She cried out.<p>

"WHAT? Why? Who?" Ruby asked gasping. She couldn't understand how such a thing was possible. "The social worker… she said they believed I was abusing Emma. I didn't, Ruby! It's not true! I could never do that to her!"

Ruby sat down next to the older woman and pulled her in a reassuring hug. "I know it's not true, Regina. Don't worry. I'm sure they'll realize that soon and bring her back."

She tried to sound as positive as she could, but didn't really know what was going to happen. She wanted to be there for the brunette and her daughter, but she didn't really know how to be helpful.

* * *

><p>Ruby had been staying at the mansion ever since the social worker took Emma away, a few days ago. Regina spent most of her time in Emma's bedroom, crying.<p>

That's where she was when the doorbell rang. She didn't feel like moving, so she just waited. Ruby, when she didn't hear Regina move, went to open the door.

She came face to face with a social worker. "Hi, is this your house? I'm the investigator for Emma's case." Ruby let the woman into the house and then went upstairs to get Regina.

"Regina, the social worker's here." Regina didn't react. "The sooner you get this over with, the sooner you'll see Emma again." Regina sighed and nodded.

She stood and straightened her clothes. Her eyes were red from crying, but she didn't care. She made her way down the stairs to the foyer, where the social worker was waiting.

"Ah, I assume you are Miss Parks?" Regina frowned. "No, I'm not. I'm Regina Mills." The social worker gave Regina a confused look.

"You are Emma Stevenson's foster mother, aren't you?" Regina rolled her eyes frustrated. "No, I'm Emma Swan's adoptive mother, you incompetent fool! Are you telling me that you took my daughter away from her home, because you were too stupid to check the child's last name?"

The woman visibly cringed. "I'm sorry, it was an accident." Regina was furious. "You're sorry? As if that makes up for making my daughter feel like I was giving her up!"

The woman didn't know what to say. "When and where can I go get my daughter?" Regina demanded. "And don't think I won't tell your superiors about this. Children shouldn't go through stuff like this, just because YOU made a stupid mistake!"

The woman wrote an address on a piece of paper. "I'll call them to let them know, you'll be picking up Emma." She whispered, handing Regina the paper with shaky hands.

"Now, if you'll please excuse me, I have to go pick up my daughter and I believe you have to go help the RIGHT child." The woman quickly hurried out of the mansion and drove away quickly, while making the call.

Regina and Ruby, who'd watched the entire process, grabbed their coats and got into Regina's Mercedes, on their way to pick up Emma.

* * *

><p>On their way to Boston, Regina made a quick stop to buy Emma a small present, to show her how much she loved her.<p>

Arriving at the address, the woman behind the counter was being difficult. "Please, I need to take to the responsible. It's very important," Regina tried again.

A man appeared behind them. "You wanted to talk to me?" The older brunette nodded. "Let's go into my office then." Regina nodded and went to follow him, but was stopped by Ruby.

"Do you mind if I go find Emma?" Regina smiled and shook her head. She knew Emma would be happy to see someone she knew and that way she knew her daughter was safe.

"So," the man said, closing the door to his office behind them and offered Regina a seat, "what did you want to talk about?" His tone was flirtatious, making Regina slightly uncomfortable.

"One of your employees has made a horrible mistake, which my daughter had to pay for. I would like to see her get some kind of punishment." Regina said in her serious, Mayor tone.

"What kind of mistake are we talking about here?" The man asked. "Well, a few days ago she took my daughter away from me, saying that she had reason to believe I was abusing my little girl. Today I learned that she had forgotten to check the child's last name and taken the wrong one away from their home."

The man nodded. "I'm really sorry, Madam. I'll see to it that she gets suspended for a month. Does that seem like an adequate punishment to you?" The brunette nodded.

"Thank you for your understanding. Please, see to it that these sorts of things don't happen again." The man nodded in agreement.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I would like to see my daughter." The man said his goodbyes and walked her to the door.

* * *

><p>As soon as the little blonde, who was currently playing with her Aunt Ruby, saw her mother, the child jumped up and ran into the brunette's arms.<p>

"Mommy!" The little girl squealed excitedly. "I missed you," she said, putting on her best pouty face. Regina smiled and kissed the little girl on her cheeks, nose and forehead.

"Mommy missed you too, sweetheart. I promise, I won't let anyone take you away from me again." The held each other tightly for a little while longer, before Regina put her daughter down and pulled out the present, she'd bought on the way there.

The blonde looked up at her, excitement and curiosity evident in her blue-green eyes. "Go on, open it." Regina encouraged. Not needing to be told twice, the little blonde ripped the wrapping paper away from the present.

Inside she found a few new DVD's, a new doll and a new coloring book. The little girl jumped up and down happily. "Thank you, Mommy."

Regina smiled. "No problem, my love." The little girl ran towards the other brunette and showed of her new presents excitedly. A few seconds later, she returned to her mother's side.

"Mommy, can we go home now?" She asked. All the excitement had made the small girl tired. "Of course, my love. Go say goodbye to Karen, while Mommy gets your things." Regina said, spotting Emma's social worker from afar.

Emma fell asleep in the car on their way home. Regina smiled at her through the rearview mirror. She was glad that her little girl was close to her once more. She didn't know what she would have done, if they'd taken her away from her permanently and she was glad she didn't have to think about it anymore.

Soon, they would be home and this nightmare would be behind them. Everything would go back to normal.


	19. A Day at the Park

**A/N: **

**Thanks to everyone who follows/reviewed this story ;) **

**Thank you, EvilRegalBonhamCarter, for editing :)**

**Let me know what you think of this chapter… If you have ideas for following chapters, they're always appreciated ;)**

**Enjoy**

* * *

><p>Today was the day they were finally going on their picnic date. The sun was shining, which made it even better. Little Emma was really excited to go to the park. Having spent the last few days at social services, she hadn't played outside in a while.<p>

"Mommy, are we leaving yet?" Emma asked, as soon as she had the last bite of her breakfast in her mouth.

"Do not speak, while you have food in your mouth, Emma!" she scolded, making the blonde pout apologetically. "We'll leave in an hour or two. What do you say we watch a movie before Neal comes to pick us up?"

Emma smiled and nodded in response. She held her arms out, showing Regina that she wanted to be in her arms. She had been acting really clingy ever since she got back home, but Regina just thought it was because she was scared of being taken away once more.

Sitting down, with her daughter in her lap, Regina started looking for a movie that would entertain Emma. Every time Regina even thought of leaving the room to get her book or a glass of water, Emma shifted and clung to her even tighter. Regina finally sighed and gave up.

The doorbell rang; announcing Neal's arrival, making Emma flinch, but the little girl didn't make a move to get up. Realizing that if she wanted to get the door, she'd have to carry Emma with her.

"Good morning, dear." Regina smiled at the man on the porch. He smiled back at her.

"Good morning to you too. Are you two ladies ready to go to the park?" At the last word, Emma finally looked up from Regina's shoulder.

"Are we going right now?" Regina chuckled at her daughter's adorable excitement.

"Yes, we are, baby. Go grab your shoes and your coat." Regina meant to put the child down, but Emma didn't let go. Instead she tightened her grip around Regina's neck. "Sweetheart, you're going to have to let go of me, if you want to play in the park." Regina told her, kissing the top of her head.

"I don't want to go to the park anymore." Emma suddenly said.

"What happened? You were so excited to go, just a second ago." Regina asked kneeling down and looking into her daughter's eyes.

"If I let you go, the mean man is going to hurt me again." Emma had tears in her eyes as she spoke to her mother.

Regina's face paled. "What 'mean man', Emma? Who hurt you?" The brunette was trying to stay calm for her little girl.

"The mean man from a few days ago. He came before you came to get me home." Emma said.

"What did he do, Emma?" Regina continued to question.

"He wanted me to go to his home, but I wanted to come here. He got really, really angry and started yelling really loud and then he hit me really hard." The little girl started crying at the memory from just a few days ago.

Regina's heart broke. She had promised the little girl she wouldn't get hurt like that again, but it had happened anyway and she wasn't there to protect her.

She pulled the child into a tight hug. "I promise, I'll never let something like that happen again, okay? I'll stay with you, forever. I'll always be there to protect you."

The little girl nodded, never letting go of her mother. "Do you want to go play in the park now?" Emma shrugged unsure. "Go get your shoes and your coat and I'll be right here when you come back."

The child let go of her mother and ran upstairs to get what her mother had asked for, before hurrying back.

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><p>Neal and Regina were sitting on a bench next to the playground, watching over the little blonde, who was playing happily.<p>

"Are you okay?" Neal asked concerned. When he got a frown from the brunette next to him, he explained: "I know what you've been through the last few days and I saw how Emma was behaving earlier."

The brunette turned her gaze back to the playing child. She sighed. "I'm happy to have her back. I just wanted her to be happy, but I let them take her away from me anyways. I should have-"

Neal cut her off. "This wasn't your fault, Regina. There was nothing you could have done to prevent what had happened. She's back home where she belongs and that's all that matters."

Regina nodded. "You're right. I just don't want to see her this hurt." Neal nodded understandingly.

They watched the little blonde run towards the swings and smiled as the young girl waved at them.

They talked a bit more, before Emma joined them. "Mommy, I'm hungry." The child complained. Regina kissed the top of her head and helped her to sit on the bench between them. Then she got a sandwich out of the picnic basket and handed it to Emma, then did the same for Neal and herself.

After eating their lunch, Neal picked up a tired Emma and carried her to his car. She had fallen asleep before he'd even buckled her seatbelt. While he rounded the car to sit in the driver's seat, Regina sat down in the passenger seat.

"Today was a lot of fun," Regina whispered once they were standing on her front porch again. "Would you like to come in for a while?" She asked. He shook his head.

"I should get to work. Have a great evening." Regina smiled and nodded.

"You too," she responded. He slowly leaned in and kissed the brunette's lips briefly, before letting her get inside to put the blonde to bed for her nap.

* * *

><p>During the blonde's nap, Regina sat on her bed with her favorite book. She didn't get very far as she got interrupted by her daughter's screams.<p>

She ran to the child's room and woke her up from her nightmare. As she opened her eyes, Emma launched herself at her mother and sobbed into her shoulder.

When Regina asked her what she'd dreamt about Emma explained that there were monsters under her bed. Regina smiled and shook her head.

"I promise you, there's nothing under the bed." Regina said, but Emma didn't believe her. "Fine, let's look together, okay?" The blonde shrugged scared. They knelt down before the bed and looked under it.

The only thing that was under the bed was one of Emma's stuffed animals. "Look, it's only your teddy bear. He's not a monster, is he?" Emma shook her head and hugged the bear tightly to her chest.

"Thanks for protecting me, Mommy! You made all the monsters go away." Regina smiled and kissed her daughter's cheek.

"I love you, baby."

"I love you too, Mommy"


	20. Emma's file

**A/N:**

**Thanks to everyone who follows/reviewed this story ;)**

**Thank you, EvilRegalBonhamCarter, for editing :)**

**Let me know what you think of this chapter… If you have ideas for following chapters, they're always appreciated ;)**

**Enjoy**

* * *

><p>Regina had asked the sheriff to get her Emma's file a while ago. The nightmares Emma had been having from the time she spent in foster homes and when she was taken back to the orphanage due to the social worker's stupid mistake. Regina wanted to know how bad Emma's past actually was.<p>

"Mayor Mills? I brought you the file you requested." Regina looked up to Graham, who was standing in the doorway of her office.

"Ah, yes, thank you, Sheriff," the man handed her the file, lingering a little while, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Regina sighed and looked at back at her paperwork, "No, that'll be all." She replied in a dismissive tone. As soon as the sheriff had closed the door behind him, Regina opened the file.

There were so many names. All those families who had taken her daughter in, but still ended up abandoning her back at the orphanage. Regina couldn't understand it; from the first time she'd seen the little girl, she knew that she could never let her go.

Regina loved the child more than anything and it had been this way from the very beginning. She saw the people around them, like Ruby or Neal, who had also immediately cared for the girl. She couldn't understand how all those previous families could reject her.

After that there were forms about the abuse Emma had gone through. She read how people neglected Emma to the point of starving her, how they beat her up, often until she needed to go to the hospital, people who forgot her at preschool for multiple days, sexual abuse… Regina couldn't believe how people could do all of those things to an innocent child.

Regina felt so bad for her daughter that she wanted to throw up, just from reading about it. She had always known that Emma had had a bad past, but she never realized how far it had gone.

One family even locked her up in their basement for multiple days, just because the little girl had repeated a bad word she'd heard from one of the other children. That child had ended up calling the cops, because she was scared that Emma might die.

Not being able to continue reading, Regina closed the file and locked it away in her desk. She grabbed her coat and purse and decided to get Emma from school early today. She wanted the little blonde to know that she would never do any of the things she'd read in that file, because she loved her.

When Emma looked up from the table where she was drawing and saw her mother, the little blonde jumped to her feet and ran into the brunette's waiting arms.

"Do you want to go home, baby?" Regina asked her, keeping the embrace tight.

"But, Mommy, school isn't over yet." Emma said cutely. Regina smiled at her.

"I know, but I thought we could do something together? Just the two of us." Emma smiled widely and ran back to her table. She grabbed her backpack and her drawing, while her mother was explaining everything to the teacher and then ran back to her mother, grabbing her hand.

"So, what do you want to do, my little angel?" Emma smiled at the new nickname.

"Can we go to the zoo?" Emma asked. Regina thought about it for a second.

"You want to go out of town for the weekend?" Emma nodded excitedly. "How about we spend the weekend at Disneyworld instead? We can go to the zoo next weekend with Ruby and Neal." Regina suggested.

Emma's smile widened, impossibly. "I've never been to Disneyworld. Are we going, just you and me?" She asked.

"If that's okay with you, my darling." Regina answered.

"I love spending time just you and me! I love you, Mommy." Both were smiling widely, when they arrived home. Regina followed Emma to her bedroom, where she packed clothes and a few toys for the weekend, and then they went to her room to do the same.

All through packing, Emma explained in detail what she'd done at school. Regina listened to every word the little girl wanted to tell her. She smiled. After all that Emma had gone through, she was still the happiest, most loving, beautiful little girl Regina knew.

Soon they were on their way to the airport, ready for an exciting family weekend.


	21. Unexpected Events

**A/N:**

**Thanks to everyone who follows/reviewed this story ;)**

**Thank you, EvilRegalBonhamCarter, for editing :)**

**Enjoy**

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><p>Neal looked at Regina. "We should talk," he said. Regina looked at him, confusion written all over her face.<p>

"What's wrong, Neal?" she asked worriedly.

He sighed. "I think we should break up."

Tears sprang into Regina's eyes. "What? Why?" Neal looked down, he hesitated about what to say.

"I feel like you need to be with Emma right now. It's for the best, Regina. I'm doing this for Emma."

Tears streamed down the Mayor's cheeks. "Don't make this about Emma. She adores you and you know it!" Regina yelled at him.

"I'm sorry, Regina, but she needs you and I don't want to take you away from her. I'm not fit to be a parent to her." Neal tried to sound convincing. The truth was that he'd fallen for someone else and he was moving with her to Europe.

"Don't blame Emma for falling in love with that tramp that walked into town a few weeks ago. Do you really think I haven't seen the way you look at her?" She looked at him pointedly, making him tremble.

"Emma doesn't care about me," he tried again. Regina just blew up and slapped him across the face.

"Leave Emma out of this. The child loves you almost as much as she loves Ruby. This is about you!" Regina felt bad for her daughter. As much of a rocky start she'd had with Neal, Emma had come to care about him greatly and now he was going to abandon her like everyone else had always done.

"Fine," Neal sighed, "I think Emma's a pain in my ass and she's ruined this relationship. The little bitch keeps taking you away from me and now I'm done. I'm leaving."

Regina had never felt this angry in her life. She slapped him so hard, her hand was tingling. "Emma's the best thing that ever happened to me. Don't you dare say anything bad about her! Don't you dare call her those filthy names! She's just a child, it's normal for her to need her mother from time to time."

After those hard words Regina opened her front door and kicked Neal out. "If you ever come back to this town or anywhere near my daughter, it'll be the last thing that you will ever do!" Regina warned, before slamming the door into his face.

She rested her back against the door and started sobbing. She was sobbing so hard; she didn't even hear Emma appear in the foyer. "Mommy?" The little girl asked. Regina looked at her daughter, her face covered in tear tracks.

"Mommy? Why are you sad?" Emma asked, hugging Regina's leg. The mother picked up her daughter and walked her to the living room , sitting down on the couch with her daughter in her lap.

"Baby, I love you so much." Regina said. The little girl threw her arms around her mother's neck and hugged her tightly.

"I love you too," she whispered. Regina smiled slightly. "Did Neal hurt you?" Emma asked quietly.

The brunette looked into Emma's eyes. "Darling, he left. He's not coming back. I'm sorry." She could see a single tear rolling down the little blonde's cheek, upsetting her even more.

"Regina, I'm here!" Ruby called from the foyer. She was supposed to watch Emma while Regina was out with Neal.

"We're in the living room, Ruby!" Regina called out for her, not being able to move with the little girl attached to her the way she was.

"What happened here?" Ruby asked, seeing both mother and daughter upset.

"Neal left us." Emma said, another tear rolling down her cheek. Ruby lifted the small girl off of Regina, hugging her tightly. She sat down next to the other brunette, silently asking Regina if she was okay, to which the brunette just shook her head.

Regina was trying to stay strong for Emma, but now that Ruby was here, she just decided to go up to her room. "Can you put Emma to bed tonight please?" She asked. Ruby nodded.

It took a little longer than usual to put the child to bed, but eventually Ruby succeeded, having to stay next to her until she fell asleep.

Quietly exiting the room, she walked over to Regina's. Having become great friends with her since Emma arrived in town, the younger brunette was worried about her.

She knocked on the door, before entering. Regina was lying on her bed, crying. Silently, Ruby got closer. She lay down behind the older woman and held her tightly.

Some time later, both of them fell asleep.

* * *

><p>The next morning, both women woke up at the same time. "Thank you," Regina whispered, not moving from her friend's comforting embrace, Ruby just smiled, "You didn't need to do that," Regina continued sincerely.<p>

"I wanted to," Ruby reassured her. Both brunettes smiled at each other.

"Why?" the mayor asked.

"Because I care about you, Regina. Both of you." Regina nodded gratefully.

Slowly the other brunette turned around so she was facing Ruby. They just lay like that, smiling at each other.

Ruby reached out, brushing a lock of short hair behind the older brunette's ear. Without realizing both of them leaned closer together. Regina's smile widened as she realized and closed the distance between them with a quick peck to Ruby's lips.

As they pulled apart, Regina suddenly felt very insecure. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have… I wasn't thinking." Ruby rolled her eyes and kissed Regina, lingering a little longer this time.

As they pulled apart, the Mayor bit her lips. "I like you, Regina. And I know this is soon after what happened with Neal last night, but I can wait as long as you want." Ruby smiled at her.

"Emma…" Regina suddenly mumbled.

"Don't worry, Regina. She's asleep in the room next door. I went to check on her when I woke up earlier." Regina smiled at how much Ruby cared about her daughter. She leaned in and pecked Ruby's lips once more, before sitting up in bed.

"What would you like for breakfast," Ruby asked her, before Regina could ask her. "You can go get Emma, while I make breakfast," Ruby explained, seeing Regina's raised eyebrow.

Regina smiled. "Mm, well I know a little blonde that loves your pancakes," Regina finally answered suggestively.

Ruby chuckled, remembering Emma's face covered in syrup; the first time she'd made her pancaked. She nodded. "Pancakes it is then."


	22. Taking things slow

**A/N:**

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**Thank you, EvilRegalBonhamCarter, for editing :)**

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* * *

><p>Regina called her assistant into her office. "What can I do for you, Mayor Mills?" The young girl asked upon entering the office.<p>

"Could you maybe call Miss Lucas and ask her to come by my office please?" The young girl nodded. Regina smiled gratefully. "Thank you, dear. That'll be all."

Dismissed, her assistant left the room to fulfill the task she'd been given.

A few minutes later there was a knock on her office door. "Come in," Regina said, not even looking up from her paperwork, as she already knew who it was.

"Please, sit," she said, still continuing with her paperwork.

"I could come back if you're too busy." Ruby suggested, getting annoyed at being ignored.

Regina looked up and smiled. "Nonsense, I'm almost finished. Give me two seconds, okay?" The younger brunette just nodded.

"Okay, I'm finished." Regina said. The younger brunette smiled and walked around the desk, sitting down on Regina's lap. She leaned closer and kissed her lips softly.

"Well, hello to you too, my dear." Regina said, chuckling.

"So, what did you want me here for?" Ruby asked, not moving from her spot in Regina's lap.

"I wanted to talk about… this. About us." The Mayor looked anywhere, but at Ruby.

"That doesn't sound very good." Ruby's good mood was suddenly gone. She went to stand, but was stopped by Regina.

"It's nothing bad, I promise." Regina reassured the younger girl. "I just wanted to ask you if… Is it okay if we take this relationship slow? It's just that, I really care about you and I don't think I could survive losing someone else. And Emma, she loves you so much too and-"

Ruby kissed her to shut her up. "Regina, it's okay! I'll take it as slow as you want, as long as there is a relationship. I care about you too and I would never do anything to hurt you or Emma."

Regina smiled. "Good. So, now that that's settled, would you like to go out on a date with me?"

Ruby smiled widely. "I'd love too, but we'll have to take Emma with us until we find her a new sitter."

Regina chuckled. "I hadn't thought of that. Guess we'll just have to go out as a family." The older brunette winked.

"Hmm, maybe we could have a dinner date at that place in Boston. You know, the one with the indoor playground?" Ruby suggested.

"Oh, so you can go play in the playground while Emma and I eat our dinners again?" Regina asked teasingly, thinking about a really fun day they'd had together.

"You know you wanted to come join me. Emma did join me… Eventually." They smiled at each other. That day had been a great day for them as a family.

"Okay, fine. We'll go there, but only if you promise to stay at our table until after we're done eating." Regina compromised.

Ruby, excited about their family day plans, agreed immediately to Regina's condition.

"Well, I have to go back to work now. Bye, Regina." She kissed the older woman, before getting up to leave.

"See you tonight, my dear." Regina said, just before Ruby left.


	23. Family dinner

**A/N: ****Thanks to everyone who follows/reviewed this story ;)**

**Thank you, EvilRegalBonhamCarter, for editing :)**

**Enjoy**

* * *

><p>While Regina was getting ready for their family diner, Ruby was watching over Emma. The little girl was giggling in front of a Disney movie, when the waitress entered the living room.<p>

"Hey, kiddo, what are you watching?" Ruby asked. Emma looked up at her with a wide smile.

"Auntie Ruby!" She squealed and ran towards her. "Do you want to see Peter Pan with me?" The little girl didn't wait for an answer and just dragged the brunette to the couch. Once Ruby was seated, Emma climbed into her lap.

Not long after that Regina came downstairs, "Are you two ready to go?" she asked them.

Emma pouted towards her mother. "Auntie Ruby and I are watching Peter Pan."

She motioned towards the TV.

"I know, Cupcake, but we can finish the movie when we get home, okay?" Ruby suggested.

Emma considered that for a second. "Promise?" She asked the younger brunette.

Ruby smiled and nodded at the child. "I promise. Now, come on. We're going to have so much fun!"

Regina rolled her eyes at the other woman's excitement, but smiled anyways.

* * *

><p>At the diner, Ruby and Regina sat across from each other. They watched how Emma immediately ran towards the playground.<p>

"I would like to tell Emma about us," Regina said after a while, turning to look into the other brunette's eyes.

"I think that's a good idea, although I don't really know how to do that." Ruby answered.

Regina took one of Ruby's hands in hers. "Don't worry, I'll talk to her. Just be prepared for her to have some questions. She's still young, she might not understand this immediately."

Ruby nodded understandingly. A waitress came up to them and took their orders. Once the food arrived, Regina asked Ruby, who loved the playground almost as much as Emma did, to go and get the child so they could eat.

Ruby didn't waste any time getting into the playground looking for Emma. The little girl had seen her arrive and had decided to play hide and seek.

The playground wasn't that big, so it didn't take to much time for Ruby to find the giggling little girl. "Auntie Ruby, you found me!" She squealed, jumping into Ruby's arms.

"Yes, I did, Cupcake. Your Mommy is waiting for us to eat." She carried the blonde towards their table and sat the young child next to her mother, before sitting back down into her previous seat.

"Sweetheart, can we talk about something?" Regina asked, after eating in silence for a while.

The child nodded and looked at her mother expectantly, "Ruby and I are going to be dating. Is that alright with you?" Regina asked trying to sense if Emma understood her or not.

The little girl frowned deeply and looked deep into thought. "Mommy, what does that mean?" Regina sighed, thinking of a better way to explain it.

"Do you remember what Neal and I had together?" She asked. The little girl's eyes widened and tears filled her eyes. She looked over at the younger brunette.

"Are you going to leave us too?" Emma asked sadly, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"No, Cupcake! I'm never going to leave you. I promise!" Ruby said, wiping away the tears on the blonde's cheek.

"Then I don't understand." She declared to her mother.

"Ruby and I, we are falling in love with each other." Regina tried.

"Like Cinderella and the Prince?" Emma asked, still a little bit confused.

"Yes, just like that." Regina smiled at the reference.

"But you're both girls…" Emma said.

"That doesn't mean we can't love each other all the same, Emma. But are you okay with this?" Regina asked.

"Does that mean Auntie Ruby will come live with us?" Emma asked hopefully.

"Maybe, someday." Ruby answered. She locked eyes with Regina briefly and they both smiled at each other.

"Then I'm definitely okay with this. I love it when you're with us, Auntie Ruby." The child got up and hugged her mother, before walking around the table and hugging Ruby.

* * *

><p>When they got back home after dinner, Regina had to carry Emma from the car to her bedroom. Coming back downstairs, Ruby was waiting in the foyer.<p>

"Do you want to stay and have a drink?" Regina asked the younger woman.

Ruby smiled. "Sure." She followed Regina to her study, where they sat down on the couch, talking.

After a while, Regina suddenly wasn't feeling very well. She excused herself and went to the bathroom.

When she wasn't back after fifteen minutes, Ruby started getting worried. She got up and walked towards the bathroom.

"Regina?" She asked, knocking on the door. "Are you alright?" There was no answer from the other side of the door.

"Regina!" Ruby said more forcefully. She tried to open the door, but it was locked. She didn't know what to do. What if something happened to her?


	24. Pregnant

**A/N: ****Thanks to everyone who follows/reviewed this story ;)**

**Thank you, EvilRegalBonhamCarter, for editing :)**

**Enjoy**

* * *

><p>Regina finally opened the door. She was pale and looked as if she was going to have a panic attack.<p>

"Oh my gods, Regina, are you alright?" Ruby asked, pulling the older woman into a hug.

Regina shook her head and started sobbing. "I think… I think, I'm… pregnant." She sobbed.

Ruby tensed at the older woman's words, "What? How?" She asked shocked.

"Neal…" was the only answer the Mayor gave her.

Ruby's rage started to surface, "So that bastard didn't just leave you, but he left you while you are pregnant! I'm going to kill that-"

Regina interrupted her, with a loud sob and falling to her knees. The younger brunette realized that her behavior was just making things worse for Regina.

"Baby, it's alright. We'll figure this out. Together." Regina started to relax a little into Ruby's hold. Her sobbing quieted down.

Ruby stood and led Regina to her bedroom. She laid her down gently on the bed and tucked her in.

"Ruby?" The Mayor's voice sounded so scared and fragile, it made Ruby shiver, "Will you stay with me, again?"

Without a word, Ruby lay down besides Regina and pulled her into a tight embrace. It didn't take long for both of them to fall asleep.

* * *

><p>A few weeks later, Regina and Ruby had decided it was time to tell Emma about the baby. They were going to do this after coming home from Regina's first doctor appointment.<p>

Not knowing how the little girl was going to react, Regina was stressed about talking to her daughter.

"Emma," she said as she entered the living room where Mary Margaret was trying to get Emma to play a game with her. Seeing that Emma still hadn't taken a liking of the annoying woman, made Regina smirk.

"Mommy!" Emma said, smiling widely and running to her mother to give her a hug.

"Thank you, Miss Blanchard, for watching my daughter while I was away." Regina said politely, forcing a smile on her face. She guided the other woman to the door and almost kicked her out.

"Mommy, I don't like her. I don't want to stay with her anymore." Emma said when Regina walked back into the living room. A pout was covering the child's face.

"I know, my dear. I don't like her either, but I didn't have much choice." Regina said sitting down on the couch and pulling Emma onto her lap.

"Where's Auntie Ruby?" Emma asked, putting her head on her mother's shoulder.

"I'm right here, Cupcake." Ruby said. She had just entered the mansion, when she heard Emma ask Regina where she was.

Emma lifted her head just enough so she could see Ruby walking towards her. The waitress sat down next to Regina and Emma.

"Emma, sweetheart, we need to talk to you about something?" Regina started. Emma's eyes saddened and she looked between her mother and aunt.

"Are you going away?" she finally asked Ruby. The abandonment issues still a permanent part of the child.

"No, sweetheart, no one is leaving. We're a family and nothing can change that." Emma nodded, not sure if she could believe her mother or not.

Regina looked at Ruby for help, not sure of how to tell the little girl she was pregnant.

The younger brunette smiled encouragingly at her and took her hand to show her support.

Regina took a deep breath before talking once more, "Emma, I'm pregnant." She blurted out.

Emma's face paled and tears filled her eyes. Before Regina understood what was happening, Emma had run of, up to her room.

Regina sighed sadly. She looked down at her feet. "That went well," she mumbled sarcastically. Ruby pulled Regina into a hug, wanting her to feel better.

"Do you want me to go talk to her?" Ruby suggested.

Regina shook her head. "No, it's okay. I need to explain to her that this doesn't change how I feel about her. She'll always be my daughter, no matter how many other children I have."

Ruby nodded. She kissed Regina's cheek before pulling back. Regina stood up and at that exact moment they heard the front door slam.

The Mayor's face paled. She ran up to Emma's room as fast as she could, followed by her girlfriend. Finding it empty, Regina started to panic. Emma's backpack was gone and so were some of her things.

"Stay here in case she comes home?" Regina asked Ruby. The younger brunette nodded.

"I'll call the sheriff and some other person in town to help find her. I'll call you if I hear anything." Regina nodded and left to go look for her daughter.

* * *

><p>An hour later, nobody had seen Emma and Regina was worried sick. It was starting to get dark and winter in Storybrooke could get very cold, especially at night.<p>

Regina was walking around the woods, tears running down her cheeks. All negative scenarios had started to fill her head. 'What if something happened to my baby girl?'

The brunette pulled out her phone and called her girlfriend. "Anything?" she asked as soon as Ruby picked up.

"I'm sorry, Regina. Everyone is looking for her. We'll find her." Ruby tried to reassure her, but she was scared herself.

"How can you say that? She's only four, Ruby! I'd die if something happened to her." More tears rolled down the Mayor's cheeks.

The brunette was scared to death for her daughter's life. The darker it got, the harder it was going to be to find her.


End file.
